Sweep of Speake leaves Vina one win from clinching playoff berth

By Staff
Scot Beard
The Vina baseball team improved to 8-8 overall this week by sweeping Speake with wins of 16-10 and a 7-3 against the Bobcats.
The Red Devils had to come from behind Monday as Speake jumped to a 4-2 lead by the end of the first inning.
Vina would not stay down for long, scoring three runs in the top of the second inning to take control of the game.
The third inning saw quite a bit of offensive output as the Red Devils outscored the Bobcats 7-3 in the inning.
Vina tacked on three more runs in the fourth and another run in the seventh. Speake scored three runs in the sixth inning.
Morgan McCarley led the Red Devil offense by going 4-for-5 with three RBIs and scoring three runs.
Brent Townsend picked up two hits, had three RBIs and scored four runs while Adam Pharr singled, doubled and drove in a pair of runs.
Cass White and Judd Childers had two hits each and Childers added three runs.
Sammy Pardue picked up the win for Vina, allowing seven runs on three hits and striking out one in 31/3 innings. McCarley pitched 32/3 innings of relief, allowing four hits and striking out seven.
Wednesday's game was a low-scoring affair as neither team was able to put a run on the scoreboard until Vina's Channing Haithcock doubled to drive in a pair of runs in the bottom of the third inning. Vina scored one more run in the inning to take a 3-0 lead.
Speake answered with two runs in the fourth, but the Red Devils added four runs in the bottom of the fourth to gain a comfortable lead.
Speake added one run in the fifth to round out the game's scoring.
White was 3-for-4 with an RBI and a stolen base to lead the Red Devil offense.
McCarley singled, doubled, scored two runs and had an RBI while Townsend had a pair of singles. Haithcock doubled, scored a run and had three RBIs.
Townsend pitched a complete game to pick up the win for Vina. He allowed three runs on seven hits and struck out seven.
With the sweep, Vina improved to 6-2 in area play and will clinch a playoff berth by winning one of its games against Mount Hope next week.
The Red Devils will host Mount Hope Monday and travel to Mount Hope Tuesday.